Här är ett utdrag ur Milingos svar till Påven - rörande frågan om gifta präster.
On November 16th, Pope Benedict XVI called a rare meeting of his cabinet, the Roman Curia, to specifically discuss the issues raised by our Prelature's call for a married priesthood in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. His official cabinet includes twenty Cardinals who head the Vatican governmental offices, known as dicasteries.
I, Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, and the Married Priests Now! Prelature agree with the Holy Father and the Vatican in their statement that reaffirmed celibacy. We believe celibacy is a charism for some priests but not for all. The priesthood must be freed from celibacy as an obligation. Celibacy should be viewed as an option rather than the norm, a charism that is freely chosen, and not enforced as a job requirement. To continue to require celibacy as a prerequisite for ordination only exacerbates an already deteriorating and hemorrhaging situation within the Roman priesthood. Not every priest has the particular calling to be celibate and this is the problem.
We do not believe that a meeting of the Cardinals who head the dicasteries was called to simply reaffirm celibacy. The report that was NOT released by the Vatican is the important one. What did the Cardinals actually say about a married priesthood? Is the Vatican in such a state of denial that it cannot see the need for a married priesthood?What, so far, has celibacy done for the church? On the American scene it has undermined the church by an ever-increasing sexual abuse scandal that has ruined the lives of countless young victims. It has cast a dark shadow of doubt on the holiness of the priesthood. The faithful can no longer trust their priests. The cost of celibacy has driven diocese after diocese into bankruptcy and church properties have been sold to pay off claims of sexual misconduct by priests. Celibacy, because of its loneliness and lack of intimacy has helped turn thousands of priests into alcoholics.
The Vatican's denial of the problem confirms and encourages our mission to recall married priests to full active ministry within the Roman Catholic Church. The Married Priests Now! Prelature is the only Catholic diocese calling for the ordination of married men and for the return of married priests to full ministry.Marriage is a sacrament of the church, celibacy is not. Marriage is a higher calling than celibacy. The marriage vow trumps the celibacy promise. Our Prelature believes that a married priest is a healthier priest, and that a married priesthood will give priests a wholesome and proper outlet for their sexuality. We are created by God as sexual beings and our sexuality needs to be celebrated as a blessing for ourselves and our wives. Marriage needs to be the normal option for priests. Remember that Jesus called married priests first. St. Peter was a married priest. The New Testament priesthood was a married priesthood. It is time for the Roman Catholic Church to return the gift of the married priesthood to the Latin Rite.
The sanctity of the church is in the family. The holiness of marriage and family reflects the community of love that we find in the Trinity. The love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the true model of the holiness of the family. Marriage brings us closer to God. A married priesthood can create wonderful families that because of marriage will identify more closely with the families they serve in the church and community. It will foster equality for women in the church and bring a new form of democracy in church management.
There is sadness in the Church over the dire situation caused by the shortage of priests. The faithful realize that they are not being well served because the priests who remain are elderly, clearly over-extended and cannot meet the needs of the faithful. Hundreds of churches have been closed and laymen and laywomen are being appointed as pastors of churches. The faithful see and feel the problem and often do reach out to the married priests who are available and willing to meet their spiritual demands. This is a groundswell movement - a church within a church - that is forming and the Vatican is in a state of denial. Our Prelature is part of this movement. This is a New Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is creating a new church for a new day.Etiketter: gift katolsk präst, katolska präster, äktenskap |
